Marlies Beat Belleville in OT

Game Recap

It took 36 shots and nearly a full 63 minutes but the Marlies ultimately scored first as Adam Brooks was able to solve Senators’ goaltender Marcus Hogberg in overtime and lift the Marlies to victory.

The Marlies came out on the attack in the first, looking to score the all-important first goal today, launching 15 shots at the Belleville net in the first period alone and limiting the Senators to just 4. However, it was still scoreless at the intermission.

The second period told a similar story with the Marlies outshooting the Senators 13-3 but again, neither team found the back of the net.

In the third, the Marlies kept the Senators to just 3 shots yet again, but Belleville tightened up defensively in the final frame and the Marlies only generated 7 shots. Heading into overtime without a goal, the Marlies held a 35-10 lead in shots.

Brooks finally broke through for the Marlies on the first shot of the extra frame, taking a quick drop pass from Carl Grundstrom, breaking towards the net and beating Hogberg on the far side.

Eamon McAdam had the shutout for the Marlies, the first of his American Hockey League career.

The win snaps a three-game skid for the Marlies, who now improve to 10-9-3-2 on the season. Belleville moves to 12-12-2-0 with the loss.

On today’s game:
I thought we did very well. As complete a game as we have played, obviously with the exception of being able to get the puck to go over the line. We’ve been talking about playing with a good process shift to shift and playing a complete game and staying focused. I thought we did that really for two games this weekend. I thought we did a much better job. Very positive for us and obviously we’ve got to continue to build on it.

On Eamon McAdam’s play:
Well he brought the big save when we needed it. He was solid, obviously didn’t let anything in that shouldn’t have gone in and then after not getting much activity for long periods of time, he came up with big saves there in the third. They had a bit of a push there in the third, obviously with the breakaway, it was a real big one and a couple other times they got in behind us. He was very solid. The guys did an excellent job in front of him and he rewarded them with how he played.

Game Preview

The Toronto Marlies are in a second straight matchup against a Canadian divisional rival on Sunday as the visiting Belleville Senators come to town.

A late goal from Chris Mueller on Saturday pushed the Marlies into overtime against the Rocket, but unfortunately Laval earned the win in yesterday’s contest. The Marlies will look to bounce back and snap a streak of three straight losses when the action kicks off.

Belleville come to town having won both of their last two games, a 3-2 win over Providence and a 7-2 win over Laval.

Head to head, they’ve met three times this season and the Marlies have won once, lost once in regulation and lost once in overtime. The Marlies are averaging six goals for per game against the Senators on the season.

With a goal and an assist in yesterday’s game, Chris Mueller now has 23 points (11G, 12A) on the season and leads the Marlies in that category. Jeremy Bracco had a three-point night and now sits third in team scoring (4G, 14A) behind Mueller and Calle Rosen (2G, 17A).

A key for the Marlies will be getting off to a strong start against the Senators. So far on the season, the Marlies are 6-0-1-0 when leading after the first and Belleville have yet to win when trailing after 20 minutes, which they’ve done six times.

On the flip side, the Marlies have been behind after the first 13 times on the season and only come back to win once while the Senators are 9-1-0-0 when leading at the intermission.

Puck drop for today’s game is scheduled for 4:00 on Leafs Nation Network, AHLTV and Sportsnet 360.

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